Nigerian Students Turn to aI For Tests Answers, Lecturers Raise Alarm
Expert System (AI) is reinventing education while making discovering more available however also sparking arguments on its impact.
While students hail AI tools like ChatGPT for enhancing their knowing experience, lecturers are raising issues about the growing dependence on AI, which they argue fosters laziness and weakens academic stability, especially with unable to safeguard their projects or provided works.
Prof. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, in an interview with Nairametrics, expressed frustration over the growing reliance on AI-generated actions among trainees stating a recent experience he had.
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"I offered an assignment to my MBA trainees, and out of over 100 students, about 40% sent the specific very same answers. These trainees did not even understand each other, however they all used the same AI tool to generate their actions," he stated.
He noted that this pattern prevails amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students however is especially worrying in part-time and distance learning programs.
"AI is a severe difficulty when it concerns projects. Many students no longer think critically-they just browse the web, produce answers, and send," he included.
Surprisingly, some speakers are likewise implicated of over-relying on AI, setting a cycle where both educators and trainees turn to AI for convenience instead of intellectual rigor.
This dispute raises important questions about the role of AI in scholastic stability and bphomesteading.com trainee development.
According to a UNESCO report, while ChatGPT reached 100 million month-to-month active users in January 2023, just one nation had released policies on generative AI since July 2023.
Since December 2024, ChatGPT had more than 300 million people utilizing the AI chatbot every week and 1 billion messages sent every day around the globe.
Decline of academic rigor
University lecturers are significantly concerned about trainees sending AI-generated tasks without really comprehending the material.
Dr. Felix Echekoba, a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, revealed his issues to Nairametrics about students increasingly counting on ChatGPT, only to struggle with answering basic questions when evaluated.
"Many trainees copy from ChatGPT and send sleek projects, but when asked fundamental concerns, they go blank. It's disappointing because education has to do with finding out, not simply passing courses," he stated.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu pointed out that the increasing number of superior graduates can not be completely credited to AI but admitted that even high-performing students utilize these tools.
"A top-notch trainee is a first-rate student, AI or not, however that does not mean they don't cheat. The benefits of AI might be peripheral, but it is making trainees dependent and less analytical," he said.
- Another lecturer, Dr. Ereke, from Ebonyi State University, raised a various issue that some lecturers themselves are guilty of the very same practice.
"It's not simply students using AI slackly. Some speakers, out of their own laziness, generate lesson notes, course describes, marking schemes, and even examination questions with AI without evaluating them. Students in turn utilize AI to produce responses. It's a cycle of laziness and it is eliminating genuine learning," he regreted.
Students' perspectives on use
Students, on the other hand, state AI has actually improved their learning experience by making academic products more easy to understand and accessible.
- Eniola Arowosafe, a 300-level Business Administration trainee at Unilag, shared how AI has substantially aided her learning by breaking down complex terms and supplying summaries of lengthy texts.
"AI assisted me comprehend things more easily, particularly when handling intricate topics," she described.
However, she recalled an instance when she used AI to submit her task, only for her lecturer to instantly acknowledge that it was produced by ChatGPT and decline it. Eniola noted that it was a good-bad effect.
- Bryan Okwuba, who recently finished with a first-rate degree in Pharmacy Technology from the University of Lagos, strongly believes that his scholastic success wasn't due to any AI tool. He associates his impressive grades to actively appealing by asking concerns and focusing on areas that speakers stress in class, as they are frequently reflected in examination concerns.
"It's everything about being present, taking note, and tapping into the wealth of understanding shared by my colleagues," he said,
- Tunde Awoshita, a final-year marketing student at UNIZIK, confesses to sometimes copying straight from ChatGPT when dealing with multiple due dates.
"To be truthful, there are times I copy straight from ChatGPT when I have several deadlines, and I know I'm guilty of that, a lot of times the lecturers do not get to read through them, but AI has also assisted me find out faster."
Balancing AI's role in education
Experts believe the service lies in AI literacy; teaching trainees and speakers how to use AI as a learning aid rather than a faster way.
- Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, bphomesteading.com highlighted the integration of AI into Nigeria's education system, stressing the significance of a well balanced method that keeps human involvement while utilizing AI to improve discovering outcomes.
"As we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of Expert system (AI), it is vital that we prioritise human agency in education. We must ensure that AI enhances, instead of changes, educators' crucial role in shaping young minds," he said
Concerns over AI in Learning
Dorcas Akintade, a cybersecurity transformation professional, attended to growing concerns relating to making use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT and their possible risks to the instructional system.
- She acknowledged the benefits of AI, however, emphasized the need for caution in its usage.
- Akintade highlighted the increasing hesitance among teachers and schools toward including AI tools in finding out environments. She recognized two primary reasons that AI tools are prevented in instructional settings: security risks and plagiarism. She described that AI tools like ChatGPT are trained to react based upon user interactions, which might not align with the expectations of teachers.
"It is not taking a look at it as a tutor," Akintade said, discussing that AI doesn't deal with particular teaching methods.
Plagiarism is another problem, as AI pulls from existing information, typically without appropriate attribution
"A lot of people need to comprehend, like I said, this is information that has actually been trained on. It is not just bringing things out from the sky. It's bringing details that some other people are fed into it, which in essence means that is another person's documentation," she warned.
- Additionally, Akintade highlighted an early problem in AI development called "hallucination," where AI tools would create information that was not accurate.
"Hallucination meant that it was bringing out details from the air. If ChatGPT might not get that details from you, it was going to make one up," she discussed.
She suggested "grounding" AI by supplying it with specific details to avoid such mistakes.
Navigating AI in Education
Akintade argued that prohibiting AI tools outright is not the service, particularly when AI provides a chance to leapfrog conventional academic methods.
- She thinks that consistently reinforcing key details helps individuals keep in mind and avoid making mistakes when confronted with challenges.
"Immersion brings conversion. When you tell individuals the same thing over and over once again, when they will make the mistakes, then they'll remember."
She also empasized the requirement for clear policies and treatments within schools, noting that lots of schools should attend to individuals and procedure aspects of this usage.
- Prof. Nwaogwugwu has actually turned to in-class projects and tests to counter AI-driven academic dishonesty.
"Now, I primarily utilize assignments to ensure trainees offer initial work." However, he acknowledged that managing large classes makes this technique difficult.
"If you set complex questions, students won't be able to utilize AI to get direct responses," he discussed.
He stressed the need for universities to train lecturers on crafting examination questions that AI can not quickly resolve while acknowledging that some lecturers struggle to counter AI misuse due to an absence of technological awareness. "Some lecturers are analogue," he stated.
- Nigeria released a draft National AI Strategy in August 2024, focusing on ethical AI development with fairness, openness, responsibility, and privacy at its core.
- UNESCO in a report requires the regulation of AI in education, recommending institutions to investigate algorithms, information, and outputs of generative AI tools to guarantee they meet ethical requirements, safeguard user information, and filter improper content.
- It worries the requirement to assess the long-lasting impact of AI on crucial skills like believing and imagination while developing policies that align with ethical frameworks. Additionally, gdprhub.eu UNESCO advises carrying out age restrictions for GenAI use to protect younger trainees and secure vulnerable groups.
- For governments, it advised adopting a coordinated nationwide method to managing GenAI, including developing oversight bodies and lining up guidelines with existing data security and privacy laws. It stresses evaluating AI risks, implementing more stringent guidelines for high-risk applications, and making sure national data ownership.
